Bleeding Hearts
by quizasvivamos
Summary: canon-based future fic: Kurt is transplanting a Bleeding Heart plant from his father's house in his garden and employs the help of Blaine. Amidst their musings and what was supposed to be a leisurely activity, they get a little carried away, and silliness ensues.


**(Unclaimed) Prompt for KPB [#42]:** _I just really want Klaine in a garden and Blaine's helping Kurt plant some flowers but get too into the digging and accidentally throws dirt at Kurt and so Kurt throws some back and they end up having a dirt fight before Kurt turns on the __hosepipe_

**A/N:** This is a canon-based future fic one shot featuring married!Klaine with children. No warnings apply. :)

* * *

Kurt wrapped his thick-gloved fingers around some particularly stubborn weeds and tugged them up from the sun-hardened earth. Although he insisted on wearing the cotton-knit gloves to protect his hands, he still loved everything about the smell of the soil, feeling the warm sun beat against his back as he worked, digging his fingers into the ground, and the way he could mold it in his palms and then watch it sprinkle back down through the spaces between his fingers. Most of all, Kurt loved the vibrant foliage, the delicate beauty of the flowers he tended, and the feeling of communion with nature.

The garden behind the house had become Kurt's sanctuary, a place to relax and breathe, to leave behind all the stresses of daily life. His afternoons in the garden had become more frequent over the past few years due to recent life-altering events, and the therapeutic activity of tending the garden as well as the opportunity for time alone to clear his head became that much more valuable.

"Are you ready for me?" a deep, unmistakable voice crooned from behind Kurt.

He twisted around, still on his knees. "What?" Kurt furrowed his brow and squinted at Blaine who was standing a few feet off, a potted plant in his hands.

Blaine laughed lightly. "What I meant is, have you finished clearing out the plot of land for the bleeding hearts?" Blaine said, lowering and tilting the pot a little to reveal its contents.

"Oh, yeah. I think so," Kurt said. "I was thinking that this spot right here by the tiger lilies is good since it will give them some shade that should help keep the soil moist."

Blaine kneeled down beside him, setting the flowers on the ground before them. Kurt grinned and offered Blaine one of the small garden shovels, and Blaine took it willingly, but when Kurt tried to hand him a pair of his own gloves, Blaine shook his head.

"I'm good," he said. "Besides, getting your hands dirty is half the fun."

Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes. "If you insist, but don't come crying to me when something pricks your finger or a bug bites you."

"That's reasonable," Blaine said. "So, shall we till?"

"We shall," Kurt answered, pushing the pointed tip of his trowel into the dry dirt, watching it crack at the surface. He pushed it in deeper and then scooped up the soil, turning it over to expose the moister, more fertile soil beneath it. Blaine dug into the earth with his own shovel, and they swiftly turned over the section of land and watched earthworms begin to wriggle through it, retreating to deeper, darker regions.

Blaine sank his hands into the soil and gently pinched one of the critters between two fingers before lifting it up to place in his palm. Kurt scrunched up his nose, not at the worm, but at Blaine and his gradually darkening bare hands as they became caked with dirt.

"They're good, you know. For the flowers," Blaine said.

"Yes, yes, of course I know that. That face was for you, not our little friend there."

"What did I do now?" Blaine said, setting the worm back on the ground.

Kurt looked on at him fondly and then simply said, "Nothing." Blaine hummed an incredulous affirmation in response. They allowed a comfortable silence to envelop them for a moment as Kurt gathered his thoughts. "Thank you for helping me with this," Kurt said. "I know my garden is usually off limits to all but myself, but sometimes it's nice to have company."

A tranquil silence settled in the cool spring air between them as they worked, and Blaine continued to dig his hands into the dirt, knowing that it peeved Kurt, but Kurt seemed to be in a meditative state of sorts and was unfazed by Blaine's teasing.

Once the flower bed was ready, Kurt reached for the potted flowers and slid them across the earth, pulling them toward himself.

Blaine shoveled out the last bit of dirt to make room for the roots of the plant, and Kurt carefully reached into the pot with both hands, digging his fingers into the soil, and lifted it out to set it in the small hole in the loosened earth. He then went to work filling the spaces in above the roots and around the stem, making certain that he didn't pack it too tightly so the flowers could breathe and would flourish.

Blaine laid his hands on Kurt's as he gently patted down the soil over the roots of the plant, and Kurt giggled, shaking his head before wiping at his face with his arm and turning toward Blaine. He set his hands on his knees and gazed into Blaine's watchful eyes.

"Now they're safe in their new home." Kurt took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "You know, they've bloomed all these years. My mom planted them underneath a sycamore back home, and every year they came back up and bloomed again."

"They're very beautiful," Blaine said softly, lightly grasping one of the dangling heart-shaped, pillow-like flowers between his thumb and index finger. He examined the pendulous, drop-like structure of the petals that protruded from the bottom of the pink heart, like a drop of blood, making it clear where the plant got its name.

"There's some silly folklore behind them about a prince's unrequited love for a princess, but they hold a very different meaning for me," Kurt explained, almost as if he had read Blaine's mind.

"Your father," Blaine spoke just those two words, but their full meaning was known.

Only Kurt's steady breath could be heard on the air for a moment.

"They didn't think he was going to live, not after the second heart attack, and especially not after we found out his heart was failing. God, Blaine, I was so scared, but, miraculously, they found a donor - and for someone his age. I still can't believe it. You know I don't believe in God, but I think it was a sign that it wasn't his time to go, that he still had unfinished business here," Kurt said.

"I know," Blaine said, almost a whisper. Neither of them had been ready to say goodbye, not to a man who had been such a prominent figure in their lives, who had exuded love and compassion, was filled with so much good that his heart could no longer contain it, and perhaps they never really would be. They could love because he loved.

They looked at each other, an unspoken conversation passing between them, yet they understood every word. The twins had just finished their first year of high school, and knowing that Burt would be around to see his grandbabies earn their diplomas and possibly even graduate college made them incredibly grateful and overwhelmed with joy tinged with a bit of melancholy.

Blaine shifted around and then sank his hands into the dirt again, receiving a curious look from Kurt, but he quickly pulled them out, and gently patted it back down, evening out the surface of the flower bed.

The sun was reflecting in Kurt's kaleidoscope eyes, and Blaine gazed intently at the swirling colors, blue and gray and green and amber. And then all he could focus on was pink and the soft texture of the lips that were stretched into a grin and demanding his attention.

Blaine reached up to cradle Kurt's head in his hands, a gesture performed with familiarity and by muscle memory, wanting to draw him in for a kiss, but Kurt pulled away before he could make contact.

"Oh no. No, no. You wash your hands before you touch my face!" Kurt warned, pointing the trowel menacingly at Blaine who laughed and threw his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright. But can't I have a kiss?" He pouted.

Kurt leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the tip of his nose. "There."

"Fine, I'll accept that for now, but only because I'm all dirty. I'm taking a rain check for later, though."

"I'll gladly accept that rain check - once you've had a proper shower," Kurt said.

"It won't be alone." Blaine grinned impishly and then brushed his hands off on his pants. "So what's next?"

"The daffodils," Kurt said, pointing to the tray of about six of the already fully bloomed bright yellow and green plants. "I know it's preferable to plant the bulbs in the fall, but they were discounted, and quite lovely, so I couldn't pass them up."

"Where do you want them?" Blaine asked, rising to his feet. He extended his hand to help Kurt up, and then bent down to lift the tray.

"I think they should go over here," he walked a few paces, Blaine following behind, "next to the begonias."

They went quickly to work, digging up the earth and turning it over as before, but there was a larger area to cover. And as they worked, digging and flipping the soil, Blaine got a little carried away and lost control of a shovelful of dirt which went flying forward in Kurt's direction before there was anything he could do about it. It was like slow motion, and he stared in horror as the clump of dirt collided with Kurt's arm and then broke apart.

But much to Blaine's surprise, Kurt didn't anger. Instead, he ceased his digging, looked up mischievously at Blaine, and then scooped up a handful of soil and tossed it, hitting Blaine square in the chest.

"Hey!" Blaine shouted. "It was an accident." He quickly grabbed a fistful of earth and flung it back with unfailing accuracy. "But that wasn't."

Kurt laughed as he brushed off his clothing, but then he proceeded to pick up more dirt to make into a projectile, and soon they let go of all inhibitions and were tossing the dark soil at each other, laughing and dodging and shouting, all in good humor.

Then a lump of dirt smacked Kurt right on the cheek, and he froze stock-still.

"I'm so sorry!" Blaine said, realizing what he had done.

"You're going to be even sorrier in a second." Kurt whipped around and dashed to the side of the house, cranking the knob on the water spigot until the hose began to fill up. After quickly uncoiling it, Kurt grabbed the heavy green hose and raced back toward Blaine. He held up the end and squeezed the trigger of the spray nozzle, aiming strategically, but Blaine turned away from the frontal assault, and Kurt blasted him right in the butt, soaking the seat of his pants.

"Oh no you didn't," Blaine said slowly, turning back around to stare down Kurt. He lunged forward in attempt to wrestle the hose out of Kurt's hands but only succeeded in soaking both of them. Their laughter rang out across the yard, and soon Kurt needed to stop to catch his breath - so did a stubborn Blaine, but he wouldn't admit it until he had won this fight.

He dropped the hose. "Truce?" Kurt said, now doubled over with his hands on his knees, his chest heaving and heart racing as he managed to refill his lungs. "I'm too old for this."

"If you're too old for this, then what does that make me?" Blaine said. "But you're a damned liar, Kurt."

"What? I am not!" He shook his head and straightened his body, rising to his full height again. "Oh, Blaine. You do make it easy to forget that we're not teenagers anymore," Kurt said. "And even though I'll always be thirty at heart, my body has a way of betraying me and exposing my lies."

"We are ridiculous, aren't we?"

"By far the most ridiculous." Kurt looked away, taking in the mess they had made of the garden plot, the daffodils still sitting off to the side, waiting to be planted.

"How about we finish this while the sun is still out, and then you can change into dry clothing while I make you a cup of tea?" Blaine suggested.

"That sounds lovely," Kurt said.

About an hour later, the daffodils were neatly planted, all the flowers were given a fresh drink of water, and both Kurt and Blaine were on the edge of exhaustion. Kurt finally removed his gloves and stepped back from it all.

He crossed his arms and proudly gazed out over the garden, taking in the entire picture of his finished work: splashes of pinks, yellows, oranges, blues, whites, and of course the lush greens of the stems and leaves. All the plants - lilies, peonies, daisies, marigolds, begonias, baby blue-eyes, and now the daffodils and bleeding hearts - were carefully arranged to match Kurt's vision.

"Since we're now all wet and _completely_ filthy and would benefit from a shower, shall we go cash in that rain check?" Kurt said, quirking an eyebrow.

Blaine's eyes lit up as his breath hitched, and he grabbed Kurt's hand, entwining their fingers, and pulled him in toward his body. "We shall," he answered before bringing his mouth to Kurt's in a practiced way he could never tire of, kissing him and taking in his warmth, feeling the heat of his skin as he ran his hands up and down his arms and pressed his body flush against Kurt's.

"Eww," Tracy called out the window of the kitchen in mock disgust.

"Oh be quiet!" Kurt called back, having finally broken away from Blaine. "We'll remember this the next time you want to bring your _friend_ into your bedroom to _hang out_."

"You know I was just kidding!"

"But I wasn't," Kurt said with a wink in Blaine's direction.

"I was just trying to find you to ask if I could rent a movie on demand and if you two wanted to watch with me, but it's obvious that you're already preoccupied," she said, a hint of a whine in her voice.

"Sure, go ahead," Blaine called back. "And why don't you ask Hepburn? I'm sure she might be interested." But Blaine didn't wait for a response before he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kurt's again. A groan sounded from the house, and, after successfully scaring off their spectator of a daughter, they were alone again, enjoying the time together, the lingering kisses, the hope that the movie would keep the kids off their backs for their plans, and the promise that so many shared moments like this one were still to come.


End file.
